Thursday, March 31, 2011

At ASCD's Annual Conference in San Francisco (March 2011), a panel of Horace Mann League board members made a presentation on the "Privatization of Public Schools." Martha Bruckner discussed the implications of charters, vouchers and proposed recent legislation in Iowa.Click here to view Martha Bruckner's.

At ASCD's Annual Conference in San Francisco (March 2011), a panel of Horace Mann League board members made a presentation on the "Privatization of Public Schools." Evelyn Holman discussed the implications of charters, vouchers and recent legislationClick here to view Evelyn Holman's remarks.

At ASCD's Annual Conference in San Francisco (March 2011), a panel of Horace Mann League board members made a presentation on the "Privatization of Public Schools." Gary Marx gave his "Twelve Perspectives Public Schools."Click here to view Gary Marx's remarks.

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Are public schools doing a good job of defending themselves during a time when critics are gaining momentum on voucher and charter-school efforts?

The panelists, Martha Bruckner, Evelyn Holman, Gary Marx and James Harvey, are members of the group's board of directors, sought to discuss ways to protect schools from privatization and arm public education advocates with information to counter arguments for charters and vouchers. However, they also acknowledged that there needs to be tough discussions among educators about what public schools are doing right and wrong.

Monday, March 28, 2011

Three businessmen and three businesswomen will be dropped in an elementary school classroom for one school year. Each business person will be provided with a copy of his/her school district's curriculum, and a class of 30-40 students.

Each class will have a minimum of five learning-disabled children, three with A.D.H.D., one gifted child, and two who speak limited English. Three students will be labeled with severe behavior problems.

Each business person must complete lesson plans at least 3 days in advance, with annotations for curriculum objectives and modify, organize, or create their materials accordingly. They will be required to teach students, handle misconduct, implement technology, document attendance, write referrals, correct homework, make bulletin boards, compute grades, complete report cards, document benchmarks, communicate with parents, and arrange parent conferences. They must also stand in their doorway between class changes to monitor the hallways.

In addition, they will complete fire drills, tornado drills, and [Code Red] drills for shooting attacks each month.

They must attend workshops, faculty meetings, and attend curriculum development meetings. They must also tutor students who are behind and strive to get their 2 non-English speaking children proficient enough to take the SOLS tests. If they are sick or having a bad day they must not let it show.

Each day they must incorporate reading, writing, math, science, and social studies into the program. They must also ensure that the students have 200 minutes of Physical Education in a ten-day period. They must maintain discipline and provide an educationally stimulating environment to motivate students at all times. If all students do not wish to cooperate, work, or learn, the teacher will be held responsible.

The business people will only have access to the public golf course on the weekends, but with their new salary, they will not be able to afford it. There will be no access to vendors who want to take them out to lunch, and lunch will be limited to thirty minutes, which is not counted as part of their work day. The business people will be permitted to use a student restroom, as long as another survival candidate can supervise their class.

If the copier is operable, they may make copies of necessary materials before, or after, school. However, they cannot surpass their monthly limit of copies. The business people must continually advance their education, at their expense, and on their own time.

The winner of this Season of Survivor will be allowed to return to their job.

Pass this to your friends who think teaching is easy, and to the ones that know it is hard.

Saturday, March 19, 2011

The full text version of Diane Ravitch's presentation at AASA is now available. Click here.

Thank you. Wow, that is totally amazing, I’m honored to be in such esteemed company, and I’m quite sure I don’t deserve to be in that company. But thank you so much. It’s a pleasure to be here today. I spoke to AASA a year ago and was thrilled by your warm reception.Click here.

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Supporters of voucher subsidies make claims about them that fail to stand up to scrutiny. Here are the facts about vouchers and “school choice.” Use this information to write to members of Congress and state legislators as well as letters to the editor.

Saturday, March 12, 2011

This animate was adapted from a talk given by Sir Ken Robinson, world-renowned education and creativity expert and recipient of the RSA's Benjamin Franklin award.Click here to see complete presentation.